Quantifying Siting Difficulty: A Case Study of U.S. Transmission Line Siting

The worldwide demand for new energy infrastructures has been paralleled in recent years by the increasing difficulty of siting major facilities. Siting difficulty is the subject of widespread discussion, but because of the complexity of the problem, potential solutions are not obvious or well understood. This paper presents a two-step policy-level framework that first develops an empirical measure of siting difficulty and then quantitatively assesses its major causes. The approach is based on the creation and aggregation of four siting indicators that are independent of the common causes and localized effects of siting problems. The proposed framework is demonstrated for the case of U.S. transmission line siting. Results of the analyses reveal significant variations in state siting difficulty and industry experts’ perceptions of its dominant causes, with implications for the long-term success of Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs) and knowledge transfer among siting professionals in the deregulated industry.electric transmission lines, facilities siting, public opposition, Regional Transmission Organizations (RTOs), siting difficulty

Evaluating Lotteries, Risks, and Risk-mitigation Programs

Two experiments were designed to explore the existence of systematic differences in risk perceptions and risk attitudes between Chinese and U.S. participants. The first experiment involved ranking monetary lotteries using measures of perceived riskiness and WTP. Several simple heuristics were evaluated to predict perceived riskiness and WTP. Using WTP responses, cumulative prospect theory functions were determined for participants from both countries. Compared to their U.S. counterparts, Chinese participants are found to be less risk averse and to have higher within group agreement for each task. The second experiment involved ranking real-world risks and associated risk-mitigation programs using measures of concern and preference, respectively. Conjoint analysis reveals additional cultural differences in the perception and evaluation of multi-attribute risks and risk-mitigation programs. The cross-cultural versus cross-task variation are discussed.

Evaluating lotteries, risks, and risk mitigation programs : a comparison of China and the United States

Two experiments were designed to explore the existence of systematic differences in risk perceptions and risk attitudes between Chinese and U.S. participants. The first experiment involved ranking monetary lotteries using measures of perceived riskiness and WTP. Several simple heuristics were evaluated to predict perceived riskiness and WTP. Using WTP responses, cumulative prospect theory functions were determined for participants from both countries. Compared to their U.S. counterparts, Chinese participants are found to be less risk averse and to have higher within group agreement for each task. The second experiment involved ranking real-world risks and associated risk-mitigation programs using measures of concern and preference, respectively. Conjoint analysis reveals additional cultural differences in the perception and evaluation of multi-attribute risks and risk-mitigation programs. The cross-cultural versus cross-task variation are discussed

An Interactive Tool to Compare and Communicate Traffic Safety Risks: TrafficSTATS

TrafficSTATS (www.traffic-stats.us) is a publicly-available, interactive, web-based query tool that provides estimates of passenger vehicle and other traffic safety risks. Using "cube" database technology, TrafficSTATS houses publicly-available government data on traffic fatalities from the Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS) and personal travel behavior from the National Household Travel Survey (NHTS) and calculates risk statistics in real time for user-specified queries. We describe the motivation for developing the tool, explain the technology developed to store the data and facilitate the queries, and provide a series of examples of the types of comparisons that can be made quickly and efficiently

Connexin32 is a Myelin-Related Protein in the PNS and CNS

We have examined the expression of a gap junction protein, connexin32 (Cx32), in Schwann cells and oligodendrocytes. In peripheral nerve, Cx32 is found in the paranodal myelin loops and Schmidt-Lanterman incisures of myelinating Schwann cells, and the levels of Cx32 protein and mRNA change in parallel with those of other myelin-related genes during development, Wallerian degeneration, and axonal regeneration. In the central nervous system, Cx32 is found in oligodendrocytes and their processes, but not in compact myelin, and the levels of Cx32 protein and mRNA increase during development in parallel with those of the other myelin genes. Thus, Cx32 is expressed as part of the myelinating phenotype of both Schwann cells and oligodendrocytes, indicating that this gap junction protein plays in important role in the biology of myelin-forming cells

Multi-Attribute Risk Assessment

Best practice dictates that security requirements be based on risk assessments; however, simplistic risk assessments that result in lists of risks or sets of scenarios do not provide sufficient information to prioritize requirements when faced with resource constraints (e.g., time, money). Multi-attribute risk assessments provide a convenient framework for systematically developing quantitative risk assessments that the security manager can use to prioritize security requirements. This paper presents a multi-attribute risk assessment process and results from two industry case studies that used the process to identify and prioritize their risks

Evaluating lotteries, risks, and risk-mitigation programs

Two experiments were designed to explore the existence of systematic differences in risk perceptions and risk attitudes between Chinese and US participants. The first experiment involved ranking monetary lotteries using measures of perceived riskiness and willingness to pay (WTP). Several simple heuristics were evaluated to predict perceived riskiness and WTP. Using WTP responses, Cumulative Prospect Theory functions were determined for participants from both countries. The second experiment involved ranking multi-attribute real-world risks and associated risk-mitigation programs using measures of concern and preference,respectively. Compared to their US counterparts, Chinese participants are found to be less risk averse, more concerned about risks with higher catastrophic potential, and more in favor of risk-mitigation programs with greater scope of benefit. The results also reveal higher within-group agreement by Chinese participants for all tasks. For both national groups, the within-group agreement was highest when ranking risk-mitigation programs, but lowest when ranking lotteries with negative expected value. The implications of cross-cultural versus cross-task variation are discussed

water quality

environmental sensor network to determine drinkin